News about Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (Deficit Super Committee")", including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Nov. 25, 2011

Lawmakers and health policy experts say that the special Congressional committee on deficit reduction built a case for major structural changes in Medicare that would limit the government's open-ended financial commitment to the program, even though it never reached an agreement; the committee's work has slowly been gaining the support of members from both parties, and will probably frame the debate on the future of the program. MORE

Nov. 24, 2011

Senator John Kerry is back in the media spotlight as a member of the Congressional deficit committee, whose failure to make deal has triggered automatic budget cuts and many public recriminations; Washington insiders speculate that if panel had succeeded, Kerry would likely have been appointed secretary of state, should there be an Obama second term. MORE

Nov. 22, 2011

News analysis; latest Congressional failure to agree on a plan for balancing the government's books could, surprisingly, result in a sharp reduction in annual federal deficits, but it also puts the nation's economy at risk; the failure to reach an agreement threatens to significantly slow growth in an already ailing economy by raising taxes across the board while drastically reducing government spending. MORE

Nov. 22, 2011

President Obama remaining aloof from the special deficit committee in Congress shows his calculation more clearly than ever before, that Republicans will never agree to raise taxes on the wealthy to balance any spending cuts, so let the voters decide; he is figuring that Congress will not reach a bipartisan compromise and he will campaign by contrasting what he calls his 'balanced' approach to putting the nation on a solid fiscal footing to Republicans' antitax reliance on spending cuts. MORE

Nov. 22, 2011

Editorial condemns Republicans in the Congressional deficit supercommittee for refusing to raise taxes on the rich, which is primary reason panel failed to strike deal; notes that this failure has serious consequences: forced spending cuts that will further jeopardize fragile economic recovery. MORE

Nov. 21, 2011

Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction acknowledges that talks on a sweeping agreement to reduce the deficit are near failure, and leaders agree that partisan deadlock is likely to continue until after 2012 elections; inability of committee to meet deadline will trigger $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts over 10 years to the military and domestic programs, starting in 2013; both Republicans and Democrats are quick to assign blame for failure to opposing party. MORE

Nov. 21, 2011

Failure of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction offers fresh evidence for everyone frustrated by the political deadlock in Congress that the two parties are incapable of moving past their differences; Democrats and Republicans can not even agree on what caused the talks to fail. MORE

Nov. 21, 2011

Prospective failure of the deficit panel in Congress and bond auctions by fiscally shaky European governments could be a drag on markets in current week; some market experts maintain that the volatility will increase as trading volume thins in days before Thanksgiving. MORE

Nov. 20, 2011

Senator Jon Kyl, the second-ranking Senate Republican, declares that the work of a special Congressional committee on deficit reduction is all but over, and say efforts to strike a bipartisan deal have been worthy but unavailing. MORE

Nov. 19, 2011

Members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction remain at impasse with only 72 hours left before their deadline to present Congress with a plan to cut $1.2 trillion from the nation's deficit; pessimism mounts among committee members about their ability to strike a deal and avert a high-profile failure that would demonstrate anew the inability of Republicans and Democrats to reach consensus about how to address the mounting public debt. MORE

Nov. 19, 2011

Caucus column; Mitt Romney expresses doubts about the ability of the Congressional panel on deficit reduction to reach an acceptable solution, saying that any recommendations could be a 'Faustian bargain' that would cut money from the military budget. MORE

Nov. 18, 2011

Members of the Congressional panel on deficit reduction report no tangible progress toward an agreement with just days remaining before their final deadline. MORE

Nov. 18, 2011

Paul Krugman Op-Ed column calls it good news that Congressional supercommittee charged with reaching an agreement on federal deficit will fail to meet its deadline; warns that any deal to slash government spending right now would almost surely end up worsening the economic slump. MORE

Nov. 18, 2011

Special Congressional committee is unlikely to meet deadline for deal to reduce deficit, leaving investors, business leaders and consumers bracing for another blow to fragile economy; analysts say lack of deal is symbol of government dysfunction in time of crisis, and will undermine consumer confidence as crucial holiday shopping season begins. MORE

Nov. 16, 2011

Congressional leaders become increasingly involved with the work of a joint committee charged with taming the deficit; Republicans in both chambers embrace a plan devised by Senator Patrick J. Toomey, one of their party’s representatives on the panel, that includes $300 billion in new tax revenue over 10 years and a rewriting of the tax code; Democrats are struggling to come up with a counteroffer and express dismay that the Republicans are rallying around Toomey's proposal without offering further concessions to their concerns. MORE

Nov. 16, 2011

Editorial urges Republicans on the Congressional deficit reduction super-committee to focus on proposals that would raise revenues, rather than just cutting spending, to tackle the federal deficit. MORE

Nov. 15, 2011

Congressional deficit reduction panel retreats to conference rooms to continue negotiations, as House Republicans and Senate Democrats are putting their final touches on a series of spending bills that they hope will avert another showdown over short-term financing of the government; House is expected to vote on three appropriations bills with significant cuts to various programs. MORE

Nov. 8, 2011

Editorial urges the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to overcome deadlock and come up with a plan that balances new revenues with spending cuts; argues that if Republicans dismiss the committee because they refuse to compromise, it will have dire consequences for the economy and the country. MORE

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Multimedia

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President Obama outlined a plan on Sept. 19 to trim budget deficits by $3.1 trillion over the next 10 years. Republicans have said they will oppose the plan because it includes tax increases. Here is a step-by-step explanation of how the deficit totals are calculated and a breakdown of how the plan’s savings would be achieved.